Big inning propels Uniontown to 11-4 win over Connellsville
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Nick Kumor kicks up dust as he slides across the plate in front of Connellsville catcher Ethan Shultz in the bottom of the sixth inning in Saturday’s FCALBL semifinal game at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville right fielder Evan Means runs under a fly ball hit by Uniontown's Brant Bonadio for an out in the bottom of the second inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville's Kace Shearer steps on the plate for the first run of the game while Uniontown's Brant Bonadio (13) and Christian Thomas look for the throw in the top of the first inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game at Hutchinson Field.
Uniontown shortstop Ty Sankovich throws across the infield for the out on Connellsville's Matt Miller in the top of the fourth inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville's Caleb Burd crosses the plate ahead of the tag by Uniontown's Christian Thomas to score on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville pitcher Aiden Newmyer strides to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game against Uniontown at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville pitcher Aiden Newmyer puts his foot on first base for the out before Uniontown's Ty Sankovich can cross the bag after taking the toss from first baseman Matt Miller (10) in the bottom of the first inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville's Aiden Newmyer slides across the plate for the tying run in the top of the sixth inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game against Uniontown at Hutchinson Field.
Connellsville's Jake Puskar pushes off the rubber as he delivers a pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game against Uniontown at Hutchinson Field.
Uniontown starting pitcher Christian Thomas releases the ball in the top of the first inning in Saturday's FCALBL semifinal game against Connellsville at Hutchinson Field.
HOPWOOD — The way the Fayette County American Legion Baseball League semifinal played out was all too familiar for Connellsville manager Shawn Musgrove.
Uniontown scored eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday afternoon after Connellsville regained the lead in the top of the inning for an 11-4 victory.
Uniontown (12-4) advances to play in the winner’s bracket against Charleroi, who advanced with Belle Vernon’s forfeit, on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Charleroi closed the regular season with a 3-1 victory against Uniontown at Hutchinson Field.
“They know us. We know them. It sets us up for a good (game),” said Uniontown manager Brad Yohman.
Connellsville (6-10) seeks to remain alive in the loser’s bracket when it plays Belle Vernon Sunday at noon.
Uniontown sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, pounding out eight hits with the aid of another Connellsville error.
Christian Thomas’ fly ball to right field dropped in front of Evan Means and kicked away for an inning-opening double. He scored on CJ Gesk’s double to deep left field.
Gesk moved to third on deep fly ball to right field by Ty Sankovich and scored on Alex McClain’s single. Braeden O’Brien followed with a single.
McClain scored on Brant Bonadio’s single and pinch-runner Devan Krivosky came home when the throw to third kicked into the Uniontown dugout.
Nick Kumor followed with an RBI single and Joe Chambers kept the runners moving with a run-scoring double. The final run of the inning scored on an error.
“We battled them for six innings, but we have to finish the game,” said Musgrove.
“That’s the big inning we’ve been waiting for three months,” said Yohman. “It’s nice to see the capabilty to hit at full capacity.
“We put so much into batting practice in the past weeks and months. We’ve been tryin to get it to carry over into the game. That’s been the thing for us.”
Yohman continued, saying, “We really squared up some balls late in the game.”
Connellsville starting pitcher Aiden Newmeyer held Uniontown to one run and two hits through the first four innings, with the visitors holding a 2-1 lead. Musgrove and his staff thought about pulling Newmyer earlier to preserve his pitch count for a future appearance, but opted against doing so.
“Newmyer pitched really well,” praised Musgrove. “He was pitching tough. We wanted to run all our guys out there, but he was throwing so well. He was getting a little fatigued.
“He gave us the best chance to win the game, and he did.”
Things began to unravel for Connellsville and Newmyer in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Bonadio opened the inning with a sharp double down the left field line. Kumor followed with a bunt, but the Connellsville infield was slow to cover first base, leading to a throwing error that allowed courtesy runner Shane Layton to score and Kumor to take second base.
Kumor then caught the visitors sleeping and raced to third for a stolen base. The throw to third bounced into the dugout, allowing Kumor to score.
“We scratched our way to stay in the game. We scored two runs on mistakes. We haven’t done much to produce runs,” said Yohman.
Connellsville ended the inning when relief pitcher Jake Puskar induced a short fly ball to first baseman Matt Miller with Braeden McKnight on the move. Miller hustled to first base for an inning-ending double play.
Connellsville bounced out of the gate with two runs in the top of the first inning.
Kace Shearer walked to start the game and Logan Thomas was safe on a fielder’s choice when Shearer beat the throw to second base.
Caleb Burd singled Shearer home for the first run and Puskar plated Thomas with a single for the early lead.
Connellsville had at least one runner reach base in every inning, stranding 10. The visitors had a runner reach second in every inning.
Puskar’s leadoff double in the top of the third inning was not built upon when Chambers went high to catch Anthony Piasecki’s line drive and doubled off Puskar. Ethan Shultz was safely on second after an errant throw to start the fourth inning, but Thomas retired the next three batters.
Connellsville left the bases loaded in the fifth inning after scoring the third run, and had a runner on second in the sixth inning after scoring its fourth run. The visitors stranded a runner on third base in the seventh inning.
“We left (10 guys) on base. That’s happened to us throughout the season,” said Musgrove.
Hunter Chaikcic was the beneficiary of the eight-run inning for the win in relief of starter Thomas.
Chaikcic pitched 2.1 innings, allowing unearned one run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout. The one strikeout was with the bases loaded and a run scored in the top of the fifth inning. Thomas pitched the first 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out three and walked three.
“I thought CT (Thomas) threw the ball well. He battled through some tough spots. We know what he’s capable of,” said Yohman. “Hunter’s strikeout with the bases loaded in the top of fifth inning was the play of the game.”
Connellsville played with a short bench, and Musgrove expects the same for the game against Belle Vernon.
“We’re not short-handed. They accept the challenge. We’ll play whoever shows up,” said Musgrove, adding, “It’s win or go home.”
Yohman complimented the effort put forth by Connellsville.
“The score doesn’t indicate how the game was,” said Yohman. “Connellsville has a really good team. The are very capable to make a run in this league. They had us on the ropes until late in the game.
“It’s great to have them back in the league (after not fielding a team in 2021). To Shawn’s credit, they’ve been in every game.”